Entrepreneurs / Small Business  May 9, 2017

Sticker Giant, Survey Gizmo make Forbes’ list of ‘Best Companies in America’

StickerGiant.com LLC in Longmont and SurveyGizmo in Boulder have been named to Forbes Magazine’s 2017 list of the “25 Best Companies in America.”

Bo Burlingham, author of the book, “Small Giants,” came up with the list for Forbes based on the following criteria:

  • It has had the opportunity to grow much faster, but its leaders decided to focus on being great rather than just big.
  • It has been recognized for its contributions to its community and to society.
  • It has maintained its financial health for at least ten years by having a sound business model, a strong balance sheet and steady profit margins.
  • It is privately owned and closely held.
  • It is human-scale, meaning frontline employees have real interaction with top leaders.

“Growth is good, but the leaders of these companies have had other, nonfinancial priorities as well, such as being great at what they do, creating great places to work, providing great service to customers, making great contributions to their communities and finding great ways to lead their lives,” Burlingham said. “The wealth they create, though substantial, is a by-product of success in these other areas.”

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John Fischer, who founded StickerGiant in 2001, working out of his basement, said, “We couldn’t be more delighted to be selected for this honor.”

StickerGiant prints labels and custom stickers under the motto, “Every sticker has a story. Peel it, stick it and share your story with the world.”  

The company’s 39 employees print miles of stickers every year, including beer labels for more than 200 national breweries, generating annual revenue of $10.2 million.

StickerGiant is perhaps best known for “Saul, the Sticker Ball,” a 236-pound giant sticker ball that holds the Guinness World Record as the planet’s largest sticker ball. Saul makes personal appearances for a variety of charities.   

SurveyGizmo, founded by Christian Vanek and Scott McDaniel in 2005, has 81 employees and posted annual revenue of $13 million.

Burlingham writes, “Vanek started what became SurveyGizmo at the suggestion of a client of a marketing company he worked for. The client, for whom he had created several surveys, asked why he didn’t automate the process. If he did, she said, she would send him customers, and he could repay her by letting her use the software for free. Those customers were mainly independent contractors who had previously worked for large companies where they had access to the most expensive survey software on the market, costing up to $1 million, which they couldn’t begin to afford on their own. So Vanek created software with the same capabilities that he sold for a small fraction of what big companies charged. For years, in fact, he didn’t charge enough. After finally learning how much direct competitors were charging, he doubled his price — and sold more accounts. Then he doubled again — and sold even more. Despite his underpricing, however, he had by then built a thriving company, which was already racking up awards as a best place to work in Boulder, a provider of the best customer service in the industry, and maker of the best survey software for small- to mid-size businesses. And oh yes, it’s another practitioner of open-book management.”

 

StickerGiant.com LLC in Longmont and SurveyGizmo in Boulder have been named to Forbes Magazine’s 2017 list of the “25 Best Companies in America.”

Bo Burlingham, author of the book, “Small Giants,” came up with the list for Forbes based on the following criteria:

  • It has had the opportunity to grow much faster, but its leaders decided to focus on being great rather than just big.
  • It has been recognized for its contributions to its community and to society.
  • It has maintained its financial health for at least ten…

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